The following story is very loosely based on events of that day. I submitted it for my creative writing course under the assignment of developing a story in which the character acts selflessly only to bring on additional consquences for himself. I hope you enjoy the story. Please feel free to leave any comments or critiques. Writers don't improve without feedback. :)
“Field
of Dreams”
“Mikey, now eat your peas. They are good for you!” I watched as Mikey continued to play with his
food, pretty much oblivious to the request his mother had made. I could feel his pain. I had always hated peas, too, so I couldn’t
blame him.
“They are good!
Let me have some of yours!” I
took my spoon to Mikey’s plate and pretended to take his peas. In all of his 6 years, this was pretty much
my trick in getting him to be interested in his dinner. When I acted as if I was going to eat them,
Mikey always commenced to eating.
“No, Dad! These
are mine!” He shoveled a big bite of
peas onto his spoon and shoved them into his mouth. It
works every time.
I
grinned as I again focused on my own plate, savoring the wonderful pork roast
my wife, Annie, had prepared. She was a
master in the kitchen and never ceased to amaze me every night with her talent
for cuisine.
“What a strange day!
Can’t believe it hit 85 here today.
It feels like July, and it is only the end of May!” Annie remarked, as she picked up her plate
and began clearing the table. “5
o’clock, it is still hot!”
I
felt the same way. Northwestern PA just
doesn’t get that warm until mid-summer. 75,
maybe, but 85! Whew, it had been a hot
one today.
I brought my own plate to the sink, and I wrapped my arms
around Annie, pulling her close to me from behind. I whispered in her ear, “Thank you for
dinner,” and nuzzled against her neck, inhaling the fresh apple smell that I
knew as Annie.
She turned around and brought her arms around my neck,
her face aglow with affection. “I love
you Jason.” She smiled brightly as she
leaned in to kiss me. Annie had been my
love since college, where we both had been studying to be teachers. We moved out here to Albion about 10 years
ago, building ourselves a little house out on Knapp Road. Life had had its ups and downs, but Annie and
I had never been happier than living in this small rural community, teaching
its children. Annie was in the
elementary library, while I had a job teaching math in the junior high.
I turned from Annie.
“Alrighty, Mikey. Finish up that
last scoop and bring your plate over to your mama.”
“Yes, sir.” Mikey
took one last gulp of his milk, taking care to wipe his mouth with his sleeve
before scraping his chair back against the wall. There was a permanent dent due to this
constant act. We had both tried to
correct the behavior and encourage him to be more careful, but Mikey still
seemed to do it every night. His excuse
was, “But Dad, I am only 6! I am doing the best I can!” What can you do but laugh with that kind of
logic?
After clearing off the rest of the table for Annie, I
made my way to the Lazy Boy to flip on the TV. and catch the local news. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced out
the large west window. The beautiful day
had suddenly turned black, looking like rain.
I felt anxiety in the pit of my gut.
Weather doesn’t tend to be that mercurial unless something is up. Probably a thunderstorm. I had always hated them, even from as far
back as childhood. Most people find them
to be wondrous, but I preferred sun and a light breeze compared to the massive
power nature could unleash.
I
stood from the Lazy Boy and went over to the window to push it closed. I could hear Annie humming to herself as she
washed up the dinner dishes. She always
had one tune or another on her mind. She
only had to hear a song once, and it was on her mind all day. Mikey brought out a few trucks and pushed
them across the linoleum.
Just
as I got to the window, heavy rain started, pelting against the glass. The rain blew through the screen, icy cold,
and stung my skin, creating small stinging welts.
Finally
I pushed the window down and locked it, happy I had gotten to it before too
much rain had entered the living room and soaked the floor.
“Mikey,
go into the bathroom and grab me a towel so I can clean up.” Mikey hopped up from the kitchen floor and
jogged to the back of the house to the linen closet.
A
huge boom shook the house. The thunder
and lightning had arrived, pitching darkness into the house. Annie turned on the kitchen light so she
could see to finish her task.
Suddenly
the kitchen light flashed and then went out.
“Well, I guess I will just have to wait until this storm passes.” Annie put her towel on the back of the chair
and came to join me in the living room, looking out the window at the darkening
sky together.
“Oh
my gosh. Is that hail, Jason? Small specks of ice now pounded against the
windows. “This is making me
nervous. We never have storms like
this.” Worry flooded her pale features.
“That
sure is hail. Maybe we should head down
to the root cellar, just in case this is something more than an early summer
thunderstorm.” I began to make my way to
the back door, calling Mikey to forget about the towel.
“Did
you hear that?” Annie, who had started
to follow me, paused, mid step. “It
sounds like a train is coming. We don’t
even live by the tracks!” Pure terror
had filled Annie’s face. She knew what I
had already guessed. There was a tornado
bearing down on us!
“Hurry! We have to get to the cellar before it is too
late!” I shouted.
“Mikey! Come on!”
He wasn’t coming. It doesn’t take that long to get a towel from
the linen closet! “Mikey!”
“I
will go get him. You get Cinnamon and
run to the cellar!” Annie knew my fear
of thunderstorms, so she probably could only imagine my fear of tornadoes.
I
picked up our kitten, Cinnamon, and opened the back door in time to see debris
falling in our back yard. Bricks,
lumber, trees, a bicycle. All had landed
in awkward angles in our back yard. I
looked to the sky over my roof in terror, for directly in my line of sight was
an enormous black cloud, spiraling, and sending debris in every direction.
A
small scream escaped my lips as I rushed back into the house. Annie came toward me down the small hallway,
but alone. Mikey wasn’t in sight. Tears streamed down her face. “I can’t find him! He wasn’t in the bathroom or his room, and he
won’t answer when I yell for him!”
I could feel our house being pummeled from all
directions. Suddenly all of the windows
of the house burst under pressure. I have to get Annie out of the house and find
Mikey!
I
pushed Cinnamon into Annie’s hands and pulled her to the open back door. “Go to the root cellar and close the door
tightly behind you! Mikey and I will be
right there!”
“I
am not leaving without you!” Annie burst
into fresh tears. Her eyes were filled with
pure panic. The harsh wind rushed
against the house. The wood siding
creaked from the force.
“Go. I will get him and meet you there in
seconds. We will be all right.” She nodded.
I grabbed her arms firmly and directed her out the door, watching as she
rushed to the cellar, struggling to pull its door free. Finally, I heard it wrench loose and the door
slam. Thank God she is safe.
I
had a pretty good idea where Mikey might be.
His secret hiding place was deep in his closet. Whenever he was scared or mad, he would tuck
himself tightly in the back corner and cover himself with his toys and
blankets.
Time
was running out. I raced back to his
room and pulled open the door to the closet.
Just as I ducked my head into the closet to pull Mikey to safety, the walls
around his room fell away. The tornado
was upon us.
I
could see Mikey’s eyes, filled with complete fear. “Mikey, don’t move!” He sobbed, but it was impossible to hear him
over the roar of the tornado as it crushed our home, sending the walls in all
directions as if they were mere playing cards.
I
knew I had to attach myself to something as an anchor; I could already feel the
pull from the powerful monster. I
grabbed on to the bar in Mikey’s closet, holding on for dear life. I could hear Mikey’s screams. He has
to be okay! We will make it through
this!
My
efforts to remain anchored, however, were in vain. Rain pelted me from every direction, and the
wind lifted me from the closet bar effortlessly, as if I was its plaything. Viciously, I was yanked away from the bar and
airborne. Instead of fear in that
moment, though, my thoughts drifted to Annie.
Immediately, I thought of the first time I saw her from across the
classroom. Her blues eyes met mine and a
small smile emerged into the corners of her mouth. She blushed the color of her auburn
hair. My heart melted that day, and
every day since. She and Mikey were my life.
The
beast savagely threw me, and I landed, hard, about 50 yards from my house, the
wind knocked out of me. I heard
snapping, and my chest roared with pain.
I lifted my head and wiped dirt from the field from my mouth and looked
around. I was in the corn field. Jesus. I got to my feet as quickly as I could,
pain ripping from my chest. I had at
least one broken rib, maybe more.
There
was no time to worry about myself. I looked
back to our home, or what was left of it, a pile of rubble. As
quickly as I could, my chest soaring with pain, I trudged back to Mikey in the
house. Please God, let him be okay!
I
couldn’t believe that the sun had already emerged and shone down on me like
nothing had happened. A light mist was
the only reminder that I had just lived through a tornado. Am I in
some kind of nightmare?
Across
the street everything was in shambles. The
brick house of our neighbors had been obliterated. To the left, the Bishop family barn was
gone. I continued my slow ambling race
to Mikey. When I got to the remnants of
our home, I couldn’t help but notice that the entire house had shifted at least
20 feet from its foundation.
I
raced to the house, my heart pounding through my chest. Water coated everything, making the wood and
beams slick as I screamed for Mikey.
Finally I pushed through the rubble.
His closet door was ajar, hanging on its hinges. He had remained in the closet, which somehow
still stood amongst all the ruin.
“Buddy,
are you okay?” He clutched his bear to
his chest as tears rushed down his dirty face, creating little rivers. A sob escaped his throat as he stood. I moved much of the debris out of the way so
he could emerge. I hugged him to me, so
thankful he was alive while he wrapped me in a tight bear hug. He had made it through. We would survive.
“Okay,
bud. Let’s go get Mama.” I climbed through the wreckage and made my
way to the cellar. I’m surprised she hasn’t come out of the cellar…probably wanting to
make sure it’s all clear before coming out…
“Annie! Annie!”
I finally got to the cellar door and grasped the rusted handle. I pulled it towards me, continuing to call
her name as I opened it. On the steps leading
down to the cellar stood little Cinnamon, and Mikey picked her up, nuzzling her
into his chest.
“Cinnamon! You are all right!” Mikey was elated, but a pit had hardened in
my stomach. Where is Annie?
“Annie!”
I called again. My voice choked as I
raced down those root cellar steps.
“Annie!” Shelves of canned goods
and spider webs were the only things to greet me. No Annie.
Racing
back up the steps, panic filled my heart.
She hadn’t made it to the
cellar! Where is she?
Mikey
peered into the cellar. “Where is Mama,
Dad?” He squeezed Cinnamon to him more
tightly.
“I
don’t know, bud. I don’t know.” I pulled Mikey in my arms, kissing his head
softy. He looked so much like Annie; we
sometimes referred to the two of them as “Pete and Repeat.”
I
had to find her. I let go of Mikey, told
him to sit on what remained of the back steps, and took off across the corn
field. I yelled her name until I was
hoarse. She has to be alright! But where
is she?
I
plowed through the corn field, scanning the debris that had fallen in an
ungodly way from the sky just moments ago.
A car had been wrapped neatly around a tree. A large cow, probably from the neighbor’s
farm, laid dead, her calf, ironically, beside her. A telephone pole had severed a place through
a large John Deer. I couldn’t believe
the destruction that lay before my eyes.
Such wrath, and why?
Tears
streamed down my face. I wiped them away
with my sleeve, continuing to call for Annie.
Suddenly I saw a flash of pink about 30 feet away from me. Annie
had been wearing a pink t-shirt. Her
favorite from the Duran Duran concert we had attended together only last
year.
I
knew it was my girl, my best friend. I
rushed to her, screaming her name. She
didn’t move, didn’t even turn her head.
I
knelt beside her, and drew her head to my lap.
Her eyelids fluttered. She is alive!
“Oh,
Annie. You are going to be just
fine. I promise. Help is coming.” I stroked that beautiful hair and kissed the
top of her head. My body wracked with
sobs, I pulled her even closer.
“Jason.” She tried to speak, but a small trickle of
blood came from her mouth. “Jas…” She paused again, taking a heavy breath. “I love you.
It’s okay.” She opened her eyes
slightly and looked into mine. She then
closed them. Her breath stopped as I
sobbed. No! No! Not now. We have years left
together. We were supposed to grow old
and have more babies. What about our
dreams? Our future? NO!!!
The
sirens were in the distance, but they were too late.
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